Jerk Seasoned Smoked Chicken

I like to make this on a day I'm feeling motivated in the middle of a lazy week. It results in several meals of leftovers and it's really cheap to make overall. The leftovers can be used in salads, quesadillas, nachos, and more

Equipment

• Smoker (I have an egg-style Kamado Grill) and accessories
• Container Large enough to brine chicken
• Rubber Scraper
• I really recommend a meat thermometer that can keep you posted on the temperature. I have the Thermoworks Smoke.
• Blender or Food Processor

Time

2-4 hours to cook, 1 day to brine

Ingredients

• One whole chicken (if your butcher/store has spatchcock available, go with that unless you have a smoking stand for it)
• Salt
• Honey
• Brown Sugar (at least 1 cup)
• 2 Habanero Peppers, or other pepper of choice
• 1 Mango
• Jerk Seasoning, you can't go wrong with this
• Wood Chunks, I used a mix of Mesquite, Apple, and Cherry

Instructions

Brine Prep

1. If you have a chicken stand for your smoker, or your chicken came spatchcock, skip this. Otherwise, follow this guide to spatchcock it
2. Make a brine: Heat up enough water to submerge the chicken, then add 1/2 cup salt, 1 cup brown sugar, and a few spices (follow your instinct)
3. Be sure to let your brine cool before pouring over your chicken. Hot brine will start cooking your chicken, which will make it spoil. If you're impatient, add extra salt and sugar, then mix in some ice
4. Brine overnight in the fridge

Cooking

5. Skin your mango and cut off about half of the meat on the fruit, eat the rest while you work (so long as you didn't just touch a Habanero)
6. In your Blender or Food Processor, combine the mango, 2-4 peeled cloves of garlic, some salt, a tablespoon of honey, about 1 tablespoon of your jerk seasoning, and your Habaneros (stem removed)
7. Blend all that until it looks like a paste
8. Pour out the liquid from your brine and quickly rinse the bird.
9. Using a rubber scraper, cover the bird in your mango/Habanero paste, be sure to get it into the crevices and wingpits and whatnot. Let it sit for a bit while you warm up your grill
10. Warm your grill to about 225-250°F
11. Once your grill reaches temperature, add in wood chunks and set up your grill for fully indirect heat, with a tray under the bird to catch drips
12. Rub off the paste (you can leave a little there if you aren't spice-adverse), then sprinkle jerk seasoning over the whole bird, the amount is really up to you
13. Put your bird on the grill, I can't recommend using a meat thermometer enough, and pull it off just before 165°F
14. After you pull it off, let the chicken rest for about 15 minutes, then you can shred or cup up to serve
15. Enjoy!